Accenture has agreed to acquire Downdetector and Speedtest, two of the most widely used internet monitoring platforms on the web, from Ziff Davis for $1.2 billion. The deal, announced Tuesday, transfers ownership of the Ookla-operated platforms to the consulting and IT services firm as it moves to build out its data capabilities for enterprise and government clients.
The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval. Once cleared, Accenture says it will use Ookla’s network data to support cloud service providers and AI hyperscalers, while continuing to run the Ookla business as it currently operates.
What Accenture Is Buying
Ookla sits behind both Speedtest, the platform millions of users rely on to measure their internet connection speeds, and Downdetector, which aggregates outage reports to show whether a service like Netflix or Gmail is experiencing problems. Beyond those consumer-facing tools, Ookla also owns Ekahau, which produces software for network design and troubleshooting, and RootMetrics, a platform that tracks mobile network performance.
Ziff Davis originally acquired Ookla in 2014. The media company, which also owns CNET, IGN, and Eurogamer, is now divesting the data division entirely.
Why Accenture Wants the Data
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet stated in the announcement that the company intends to use Ookla’s products to capture data that will help “clients across business and government scale AI safely.” The framing positions the acquisition less as a consumer tech play and more as an enterprise intelligence move, with network performance data becoming an input for larger AI and cloud infrastructure decisions.
Ookla CEO Stephen Bye described the deal in favorable terms. “Joining Accenture will allow us to scale our premiere network data business across the world’s largest enterprises and accelerate our goal of creating better connected experiences,” he said in a statement.
A $1.2 Billion Bet on Network Intelligence
The price tag reflects how valuable real-time network monitoring data has become as enterprises race to build out AI infrastructure. Accurate, large-scale data on connectivity performance across geographies gives Accenture something tangible to offer clients evaluating where and how to deploy compute-intensive workloads.
Accenture confirmed to Ars Technica that the Ookla business will continue operating in its current form post-acquisition. That means Downdetector and Speedtest will remain publicly accessible, at least for now, even as the underlying data gets channeled into Accenture’s enterprise offerings.
For Ziff Davis, the sale represents a clean exit from a data business that sat somewhat awkwardly alongside its media portfolio. The company retains its publishing brands while pocketing a significant return on an investment it made more than a decade ago.
Photo by MARIOLA GROBELSKA on Unsplash
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